Homefront

By: David H
(© 2011 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 3

As Matt went to bed that night, he got a text message from Nick. After exchanging a few, Nick asked Matt for a favor. He wanted to go for a morning run, but he didn't want to go alone. Matt warned that he'd never really been known to hit the streets but that he could use the exercise. The two agreed to meet at Jenny's place around ten, and by the time Matt's head was hitting the pillow, he knew the route around which he would take this man. When he got up around nine, he got dressed and left Seth's place to meet Nick at Jenny's. By the time he got there, the two were off.

Given the proximity that Jenny lived to the campus of Parsons University, Matt had decided that it would be a cool thing to show him around. From the moment they crossed onto campus, as Matt had suspected from something he'd said the previous evening, he fell in love with the place. They ran first past The Grove. Matt and Jenny had both told him about how, during football season, people don't tailgate, they grove. Where people dress however they desire for tailgating at other schools, at Parsons, there is a dress code. One always dresses nicely for groving. Guys sport their slacks and nice shirts; girls can usually be found in dresses or skirts with nice tops. The cuisine, as Nick had heard it, wasn't just whatever could be thrown on the barbecue in the parking lot; it was a big to-do where people would bring exquisitely prepared dishes and decanters of sweet tea. Of course, while alcohol was expressly forbidden on the campus, no one bothered to check anyone's glass or cup for compliance with the law.

Of course, as they ran around, Nick found himself checking out neither the guy with him nor the guys that were strolling through campus. Nick was fascinated by the buildings: their structure, their shape, how they worked with the meticulous landscaping all around. From Grove Road, they turned onto Student Union Drive, and, at next intersection, turned down Patriot Drive. Just in front of Guyton Hall, both men had to stop. It was still the morning time, but the temperature had already reached its high. Both men said something about how they should have brought a bottle of water or something as they walked to Fraternity Row and headed back toward the entrance to campus that they'd used.

Matt was out of breath by that point, and Nick's left leg was a little on fire, as he'd not been running in some time. He usually used an elliptical at the gym for cardio before lifting weights like nobody's business. As they walked down Fraternity Row, Matt pointed out a few buildings. Oddly enough, his only real boyfriend had been a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, whose house was right on the street. He pointed out the Higginbotham Language Center, where his minor was housed before, having pointed out the Nutt Music Building, where his major was housed as they entered campus.

"And this building," Matt smiled, "is Parsons Hall. It's where Admissions, Financial Aid, the Bursar, and Veterans Affairs is housed."

"Are you trying to say something?" Nick smiled, trying to walk through the pain in his leg.

"Once your discharge goes through..." Matt grinned as he motioned for Nick to turn down a street to once side of the huge administrative complex.

After a few more quick turns, they were standing in front of the Lyceum. Nick looked up at the daunting structure. He and Matt both walked back a little bit so that he could take in the huge, antebellum building with its red brick exterior and the white, classical columns that spoke to the style of a very bygone era. If no other building on campus had attracted his attention, that one had.

"Wow," Nick expressed as he took it all in.

"I can count back seven generations, on my mom's side, of people who have walked through those doors as students. My mother's great-great-great grandfather was one of the very first students at the University."

"Really?" Nick inquired as Matt shook his head. "It's why, in my family, there is the mantra: there is but one University, and Parsons is its name."

"Nice," Nick noted. "My mother and aunt went to EMU..."

"Shhh!" Matt smiled.

"What?"

"That's not a polite thing to say in these parts!" Matt smiled.

"Maybe I need some punishment later," Nick winked.

"Don't tease me like that!"

"Like what?" Nick said as he lifted the bottom part of his t-shirt. While most people would have assumed that it was to wipe the sweat from his brow, Matt knew that it was only to tease him just a tad bit more.

The two walked back to Jenny's apartment, where the two joked for a bit before Matt left to go back to Seth's and Nick went into what Jenny jokingly called 'his room' to take a shower. Afterwards, the two of them met and went to lunch before spending the afternoon hanging out. On Wednesday, they went out to Dan's lake house, just because Nick had said something about not having fished since he was a kid. They did more joking than anything, and consumed, together, a six pack of beer. It was a fun day, and, after having dinner with Seth and Jenny, they nicely parted ways.

The next morning, Nick, having run out of clean clothes, reluctantly left Eudora. There was a lot on his mind, from the past clear through to the future. He couldn't help but think what his life might have been like had his mother survived, or had Corey made it home with him. He thought about how he hated Jackson, for reasons that he would never, ever explain to his aunt or cousin, who both lauded their hometown. Perhaps it was because he'd had no choice either the first or the second time he called the place 'home.'

Then there was Matt. He was an intriguing man, on so many levels. While he didn't know that Matt was, personally, wealthy, he knew that Matt came from a fabulously well-to-do situation. His grandfather had been a Marine turned attorney turned real estate mogul; his mom was a doctor; and his father managed companies that, as far as he knew, family owned. He was so amazingly sexy, and he didn't seem to know either. He dressed modestly, as far as he'd seen, and drove a car that his grandfather had owned. He liked to commune with nature in the truest Southern sense of the word, but he could go out and drink with the best of them. He was classy and witty; he was smart, but he didn't throw it in everyone's face. He was sexy as hell, but he didn't realize that Nick saw in him more than he'd ever seen in any other living creature, including Corey.

As that little thing crossed his mind, he realized that he'd come a long way in the last few days. May was mostly as the other months since his return had been: bad. It had culminated though, in this nice man and his family welcoming him into their home and making him feel like he was an important person. Him. Nicholas Dante Russo was a man who, to them at least, was a superstar. Then, unknowingly doing something wonderful for him, Matt worked to find things that he wanted to do, things that made him the center of attention. Frankly, it felt good. He hadn't felt really good in a long time, and he wanted to relish that moment.

He liked the way Matt smiled and that he didn't miss a beat when it came to comebacks. He blushed a lot, though, which was cute. And, for a top, he had a very... very... doable butt. It was obvious from the way that he and Seth interacted that Matt was a kid at heart, but at the same time, he was a man who, in everything he did, seemed to be soothing a heart that, at 24, was already among the hardest, most cynical ones. Nick always hated that he'd become like that, but he had only the War in Iraq to blame. There were times since he got home that he'd wished that he'd not been one of the lucky ones, one of the ones who'd made it back to the land of the Pilgrims' Pride. He couldn't count how many times he'd resolved to end his own life only to have something, or someone, step in and make him momentarily realize that life could still be worth living. Matt, in his opinion, was one of those people, those things that made him feel better in the world.

As he returned to his home in Ridgeland, he found, on the bed that his aunt had made in his absence, a stack of mail. There were mostly bills that he needed to pay, but the most important thing among that stack was a letter from the Department of Defense. It was a thick envelope whose contents, though unread, made him forget completely about everything else in the world. Nervously, he opened it up, for he knew that one of two things was going to happen. Either he was going to be recalled to active duty, with the possibility of being sent again to Iraq, or he was going to get a discharge.

There was a letter in there, as was there a copy of a couple of forms. Looking down through them, he realized that his commanding officers had obviously thought more highly of his service than he had, as it was determined through all their findings that he was to be honorably discharged. He read that as a thank you from all of those people directly to him for the services that he'd performed on more than one occasion.

"Shit..." he quietly expressed as he realized that he'd have full VA benefits if he wanted them, including continuing medical care and educational benefits.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, it was as if a weight had been lifted off him. One of the things he'd most worried about was that they would brand him a coward and make him return to clear his name. He knew it was a long shot, given the physical and emotional scars that he would forever bare, but still, in his mind, it was possible. At the same time, a part of him was officially in the past. A very big, important piece of his personal history was no longer an active part. He didn't know, right then, if he was going to miss the service of his country, but he did realize that only he could make his life what he wanted it to be. That letter, in a sense, was also a new beginning, a chance for him to define, outside of the military, the man that he wanted to be.

As he sat there, his aunt got home from work, calling through the house for him after realizing that he'd returned to Jackson.

"In here, Janelle," Nick said as she came down the hallway to his room.

"Are you OK?" she asked. He looked up and smiled.

"I've got to figure something out," he cryptically responded.

"OK. Anything I can help with?" she asked, expecting a negative response, but not immediately getting one. Nick had become quite reserved like that.

"I've got to decide what I want to do with my life," Nick told her as she sat beside him. He handed her the papers, papers that she quickly grabbed and began skimming.

"Nicky..." she said. "When your Mom died, I thought about how you were going to get through. About how I was going to get through it. Your joining the Marines was not a part of that picture, but I did learn something very important about you that day that we got into it so bad."

"What's that?"

"That you are the kind of person who settle for nothing else than exactly what you want in life. Maybe you need to be reminded of it, but that's one of the things that I admire most about you in this world, Nicholas Dante."

"Yes ma'am," Nick said as he reached over and hugged his aunt.

"Now," she said with a tear on her face, "it's time to celebrate! Go call your cousin and tell her to bring her ass down here after work, that I'm cooking dinner."

"Yes ma'am," Nick smiled as she stood and walked from the room, a sense of relief on her face as well.

Jenny broke a standing dinner date with Seth that evening for her mother's cooking, leaving Jackson rather late and arriving in Eudora even later. She called Seth as soon as she got home, though, as he'd requested, and explained what had happened. Seth, fully awake, called Matt, who was still wide awake, and told him the good news.

"So I heard a rumor..." Matt smiled as he sat in his room, at his computer, while talking to Nick on the phone.

"You did? What rumor was that?"

"That this beautiful man got some news today..." Matt smiled.

"Do you Yahoo!?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. Promise you won't laugh at the name?"

"As long as you don't laugh at mine," Nick said as he booted up his laptop and sat on his bed.

"OK..." Matt said as he logged in. "What is it?"

"MRNBTTM6969," Nick smiled, spelling it out.

"OK. That's not as bad as this," Matt said as he sent a message to Nick.

"Choirboy86?" Nick asked.

"Yeah..." Matt noted. "Cam?"

"Of course," Nick said as he sent Matt an invitation. Nick quickly accepted as Matt invited himself to view Nick's. After they were both connected to each other on the internet, they hung up the phone. With a smile, Matt leaned up and began typing.

'This is so much better than the porn I was watching...' he wrote out before leaning back in his chair and smiling a little bit.

'I know. I am fucking amazing like that!' Nick fired back as he watched Matt smiling on his end of the cyber world.

'So what's the news?' Matt went on as Nick held up one finger, asking Matt to hold on as he climbed off the bed to grab the papers that were lying on his desk. When he returned, he showed Matt the return address on the envelope, which Made Matt sit up a little bit in his chair. 'And...' he typed out onto the screen. Nick held up another finger and pulled the folded papers from the enveloping finding a particular page and holding its bottom corner in the window. 'And?!?!?!' Matt typed out. With a grin on his face like when he got his first bike, Nick moved the paper to show Matt the discharge type. 'Yay!!!!' he typed out, following it with a huge chat grin, as well as a huge real grin on the screen. 'I should get you a congratulations gift. What do you want?'

'To have sex with Ian Scott,' Nick smiled.

'God you're so gay!' Matt went on. 'Of course, it's not like I wouldn't do him either.'

'So a three way with Ian Scott is the plan then?' Nick asked.

'Sure,' Matt smiled. 'Congratulations for real.'

'Thank you,' Nick went on smiling. 'So you were watching porn?'

'I was,' Matt grinned evilly. 'It was awesome, too... this muscle guy was getting pounded. It was HAWT!'

'Nice...'

'You're seriously sexier than he was, though,' Matt added. Nick smiled from ear to ear, unlike he'd smiled in a very, very long time. 'I mean. That smile alone is doing wonders for my... um... mood...'

'I should so make you prove it,' Nick noted before, right on the camera, he removed the t-shirt he'd been wearing all day and just sat there. Matt smiled just a moment before standing from the chair on which he sat. Nick's eyes bugged a little bit when he saw it. A million lustful thoughts ran through his mind as Matt turned to his side and then back to the front before sitting in the chair.

'Did I leave you speechless?' Matt inquired.

Nick returned to his keyboard. 'So I'm not a size queen or anything...but...'

'So you like?'

'Let's just say that I could figure out how to use it,' Nick smiled. 'Do I get an ass shot?'

'OK... but only cause it's you!' Matt stood again and turned around. 'You OK over there?'

Nick gave him a thumbs-up and smiled. 'Damn... So I'm gonna count that as my gift.'

'Hell no,' Matt shook his head.

'Seriously,' Nick continued, 'I'm gonna have a really good time in a little while.'

Matt reached up and took off the t-shirt he'd been wearing and sat back in his chair, casually putting his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together just on top of his dark brown hair. He sat there for a second, smiling, and taunting Nick as he'd done a couple of days before.

'Dude... you're getting even aren't you?'

Matt smiled and leaned up in the chair, typing out that he was as he looked at the keyboard. 'Turn about's fair trade, though,' he typed out afterwards, returning to his comfortable position.

'I would, but I need to... um... make myself presentable down there,' Nick mentioned.

'Uh huh...' Matt leaned back up to type. 'Would you be saying that if you were in my room right now?'

'No... well... maybe...' Nick responded in three lines of text on the chat window.

'Bullshit. You'd've been naked before I was,' Matt told him.

'Bet not!' Nick sat back.

'Trust me, you would have,' Matt went on. He moved back in the chair once again. His left hand went behind his head while his right one went out of view. Nick said that he would return in a second, and when he did, he dressed as he was on the day of his birth, in absolutely nothing. Matt was equally as impressed with him, but while it wasn't as long, it had girth.

'So now we're even,' Nick said a second later.

'I guess so,' Matt smiled. 'I can only imagine, though, what would be going on if you were here.'

'I think that we'd both be in the buff, and I'd be admiring you as the awesome man you are.'

'Admiring?'

'Admiring, worshiping, adoring, etc...' Nick smiled.

'Yeah... worshiping... I like that...' Matt returned the smile.

For the next little while, they put on a show together. While Matt was going slowly on his end, Nick was getting into it. At around the same time, they each reached their own conclusions. For whatever reason, for each of them, it was bigger than normal. Relieved and still a little excited from their moment together, they quickly cleaned themselves off before returning to the conversation. Being that it was almost two in the morning, though, it didn't last long.

The next morning, Nick went to a doctor's appointment at nine and then an appointment with his counselor at noon. Both went well, and Nick returned home. The next day, while his aunt was gone somewhere with Charles, Nick woke up and went to work in her yard. By the time she got home, he was sweaty and she was surprised at the trouble that Nick had gone to, making sure that the yard was neat and that the flower beds were all taken care of. Seth and Jenny came down on Sunday for dinner, but while Matt was invited to come, he'd already made plans to go someplace with his father.

That night, though, like every other since the Thursday before, Matt and Nick got on Yahoo Messenger after everyone else had gone to bed for a little bit of time together. On Monday, though, Nick found the high that he'd been on for several days beginning to deteriorate. He'd talked to Matt a couple of times that day, but during their cam-meeting that evening, Matt could tell that something was on his mind, other than the usual. Nick tried to smile, telling him not to worry, but Matt couldn't help himself.

At around midnight, Matt asked him to hold on for a moment while he stood and, in the background, put on some clothes. He packed a bag, which confused Nick a little bit, but he didn't say anything.

'OK. So I'm gonna be down there in a couple of hours.'

'MATT! NO! I'm not gonna let you drive two hours down here...'

'Let me? How are you gonna stop me?' Matt asked honestly.

'Matt. Seriously. Don't do this,' Nick said.

'Nick. You're a friend, and it's obvious that something's wrong. I'm not gonna just stay up here and let you go through whatever alone. Seriously...'

Nick turned off the camera, but sent a message that he was still there. 'Matt. If you knew more about me, you wouldn't be making that offer.'

'Bullshit,' Matt sent back. Nick could see the seriousness in his face. 'If you knew more about me, you wouldn't have said that.' Matt smiled.

'Matt. Where are we going with this?' Nick asked.

'I don't know about you, but I'm about to go to Jackson,' Matt told him.

'No. This. The Yahoo convos,' Nick asked him.

'I don't know, honestly. I haven't really thought about it. I've just enjoyed chatting with you, getting to know you a little bit better,' Matt continued. 'And then there's the other things...'

'Yeah. That's not bad,' Nick told him.

'So give me your address,' Matt insisted a second later.

'914 Crabapple Cir, Ridgeland,' Nick reluctantly put into the window a few minutes later.

'OK. I'm gonna leave the parents a note and then I'll call you when I get to Ridgeland. Cool?'

'I guess... You can call me before, though, if you'd like,' Nick put in the window being shared between them.

'Alright. I'll call when I get to the interstate,' Matt told him. 'TTYS'

'k...' Nick responded as the two ended their chat conversation.

Matt indeed called him when he got to the interstate, though it was obvious from Nick's tone, from his almost avoidance of any substantive conversation. When he got to Ridgeland, he pulled off the interstate, and Nick began giving him directions back to the house that Jenny had grown up in. When he got there, he pulled by the garage door where Nick's car was housed, leaving Janelle plenty of room to pull her car out the next morning. Nick was there, waiting on him as he climbed from the Caddy. Before Matt could even shut the door, Nick had wrapped his arms around him, quietly giving the wonderful man before him a thank you for not being willing to let him fester, in his emotions, alone. They walked into the house through the garage and then into the kitchen. Nick grabbed them a couple of sodas from the fridge before guiding Matt down the hallway to his bedroom. It was a modest room, painted in blue with a double bed right in the middle of the wall opposite the door. Walking inside, Matt felt as though he knew the place already, having seen it every night for the previous few. After taking a quick piss in Nick's bathroom, Matt returned and sat next to Nick on the bed.

"So what's going on in your head?" Matt asked, turning to face him after a moment.

"A lot of stuff," Nick answered honestly, finding himself unable to look at Matt, who was looking at him with only concern in his eyes, his countenance, his entire self. "Matt. I appreciate that you drove all the way down..."

"Like I said, you're a friend," Matt put his hands on Nick's leg. "A very hot friend, but a friend, none the less." Nick looked away for a moment as he sat there, a moment before letting his upper body fall back onto the pillow.

"Can I be honest?" Nick wanted to know.

"No. Lie to me," Matt smiled.

"OK. A Lie. Hmm..." Nick started. Matt smiled and playfully swatted his thigh with the back of his hand. "Matt. Last week was amazing for me, and I want to thank you."

"I didn't do nothing..." Matt started.

"You helped me forget about some things for a few days. Well, not forget, but not think about constantly," Nick told him.

"Like what?" Matt asked. It was the million dollar question right then, and Nick had no idea about whether or not he was going to be able to answer it.

"My mom, for one. Corey..." Nick answered.

"OK..."

Nick very basically told him about both people, the two people who had left him well before their times. He spoke about how Linda reminded him so much of Patrice, his mother, and how he never thought he would find someone as amazing as Corey had been. As he spoke of Corey, Matt lay down on the bed beside him and continued to listen to Nick as he cuddled up with him. At sunrise, they were still talking about things, and both of them were beginning to realize that things needed to happen before they either could or should go any further with the other.

When Janelle woke, she found a note next to the coffee pot that Nick had written her the night before. "Coffee's ready to turn on, and Matt is here." She smiled as she pushed the button and then walked to her room. Hearing quiet coming from Nick's room, she quietly pushed open the door to find both men in his bed, beneath the covers, having fallen asleep a little while before.

At ten, as she was sitting in her office, working away, Jenny called her to check on Nick, assuming that he was asleep still and not wanting to disturb him. Janelle, not wanting to gossip, really, told her about what she'd seen that morning. Jenny immediately said that she had to go, to call Seth. Janelle warned her, though, not to jump to conclusions, that it was very possible that nothing happened, that they just wanted to cuddle.

"Yeah... right... like Seth and I just cuddle!" Jenny said as she laughed, hanging up the phone and moment later and dialing Seth's number at work.

"Seth Bentley," he answered.

"GUESS WHO IS IN JACKSON!" she immediately told him.

"Um... Nick..."

"AND!"

"Your Mom," Seth smiled.

"AND!"

"Who?" Seth asked.

"A certain gay man..."

"HOLY..." Seth started before realizing that he was at work and couldn't complete that thought aloud. "Are you serious?"

"I am. I just talked to Mom, and apparently, he went down there some time in the night," she explained.

"I'm proud for them," Seth said, not knowing anything about what was going on.

"I know. OK. Gotta go back to work," she said. "I love you, and I will see you tonight."

"Love you, too," Seth said as they hung up their phones, both realizing that it was the first time the L-word was shared between them. They both smiled, realizing that they meant it.

In Jackson, though, Matt was stirring. He opened his eyes to find himself awake next to Nick, who was peacefully sleeping. Carefully, he climbed from the bed and walked into the bathroom for a second, returning to find that Nick had rolled over and was hanging on to the pillow that he'd been using. As he climbed back in, with the intention of cuddling up and going back to sleep, Matt inadvertently stirred Nick a little too much, bringing him from the land of slumber.

"Morning," Nick said.

"To you, too," Matt said as he lifted the covers. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a long time, thanks to you," Nick mentioned as he made room for Matt to return to the spot next to him.

"Good," Matt snuggled himself into Nick.

"So I had a dream last night," Nick told him.

"Good one?"

"Yeah. It wasn't too bad," Nick smiled and kissed the back of Matt's neck.

"Good..." Matt smiled.

"So thank you for the talk last night."

"It was nothing," Matt told him.

"Yeah... it was..." Nick said. Matt turned around. In Nick's eyes, even though he was still, basically, asleep, he saw a certain resolution that he'd never experienced from him before but that he recognized. All the power, the confidence, the strength that he could muster were there, coming through those beautiful brown eyes.

"You would have done it for me," Matt noted.

"Yeah. I would have," Nick smiled.

"So no worries..." Matt said as Nick leaned in and kissed him. When he pulled away for a moment, Matt smiled. "Um... You can't just stop..." he managed to say before Nick went on with his kissing. Matt, while still lying on his left side, allowed his right hand to go beneath the edge of the t-shirt that Nick had worn the night before. He enjoyed the way the tips of his fingers felt against the smooth skin on the sides of Nick's muscular body.

Before he knew it, though, Nick was pushing him onto his back and straddling his body. Nick stopped kissing and lifted himself for a moment, long enough to remove his shirt and to help Matt take his off. As Matt was lowered back onto his back, Nick leaned down and started kissing him again. In a moment, though, he moved from his kisses to Matt's neck and then his lightly furry chest. The closer that he got to Matt's belly button, Nick put his hands under the edge of the blue boxers he'd worn to bed that night. With each kiss from his belly button down his happy trail to the promised land, Nick pulled down the shorts, gradually exposing Matt to him as neither of them imagined would happen for a while. When he reached the base, Nick planted small, light kisses along each inch until the boxers were gone. He kissed the head before wrapping his hands around it and placing it, both gently and forcefully in a combination that most guy guys had never been able to muster.

"Oh God!" Matt tried to scream only to find himself barely letting out a whisper. It felt so good, better than any other experience of that kind that he'd had. True to Jenny's advice on the night they first met, Nick was amazingly gifted when it came to that one particular thing.

Over the next few minutes, Nick didn't seem to stop. His movements, his breaths, his strokes were even and consistent. He was working at a good speed, and even though Matt was bigger than any guy he'd ever been with, Nick seemed to have no problems with it. As he got closer and closer to the point of no return, he found himself debating about where to put his hands. He was already holding onto the sheets for dear life, and as much as he wanted to put his hands on the back of Nick's head, with its hair still cut to regulation standards, he didn't.

"Nick..." Matt started to warn, as Nick ignored him. "Nick!" he continued as Nick did. "Oh! Nick!" Matt said as he could no longer hold off the orgasm that Nick had induced. Nick backed off him just far enough, though, so that he could savor the flavor, the texture of every single drop of what had previously been inside Matt's body. He felt Matt shiver a few times, knowing that he was, for the moment, spent, and all the while walking on the wild side as he didn't let a single drop of what he later termed 'goodness' escape from his mouth.

"So how's that for a 'thank you'," Nick smiled as he moved back to where he'd been lying before, next to Matt. Matt could do nothing but stare at the ceiling for a moment. His mind was completely devoid of thought, of perspective, as he enjoyed the minute or two after when he was at one with everything in the universe. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Enjoy it?" Matt asked, turning his head to where Nick was leaning on his elbow. "Enjoy doesn't even... doesn't even begin to describe it," he smiled from ear to ear. He turned a second later and faced Nick. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll have energy enough to..."

"Who said you were gonna get any more than that?" Nick joked as Matt pushed him, gently causing him to fall to his back. Matt climbed on top of him, straddling Nick with his naked body.

"Wouldn't you like it if I were a bottom?" Matt teased him as he slowly moved himself.

"Right now, yes," Nick smiled. "But I understand that you're a top, and I won't push the matter until you're ready."

"Oh yeah?" Matt said as he climbed off and took off the briefs that Nick was wearing.

Nick, almost playfully, tried to take them from Matt, but Matt pulled them away, throwing them across the room. He returned to his position, their naked bodies touching in a way that felt so good by itself. "Matt... you're gonna cause a problem," he warned.

"Good," Matt said as they both realized that Nick's erect member was between his legs. The motions, the touch, it all sent sensations that made Nick want it more and Matt want it again.

"Matt. Seriously. I don't want you to think that I did what I did to get this..."

"Shut up, Nick," Matt said as he leaned over and kissed him.

"Yes sir," he said during the next breath.

"Do you have any protection?" Matt inquired.

"Yeah. Bathroom."

"Hurry," Matt climbed off him and lay on his back in the middle of the bed.

"Yes sir," Nick smiled as he climbed and ran in.

"You have the greatest ass," Matt said.

"Thank you," Nick said as he grabbed not just the condom but also some lube.

When he returned, Matt had his knees crooked, waiting on Nick to return. Nick opened the condom with his teeth and threw the wrapper on the ground before unrolling over him. He squeezed out some lube onto his finger tips and wiped it around himself before repeating the process and rubbing it on Matt's ass.

"You sure?" he asked as he put his middle finger inside Matt.

"Nick..." Matt looked at him, wincing a little from pleasure as he found 'the spot' with his finger.

"OK... I'm shutting up," Nick told him, putting in a second finger in preparation. In a moment, though, he removed his fingers only to replace it with that which made him a man. He slowly inserted himself, stopping after a second so that Matt could get used to the presence. When he was in as deep as he could go, he slowly pulled himself out. The process took a moment, but eventually, he slowly started picking up speed. Whereas Matt's legs had been on his shoulders at first, Nick took his ankles and held his legs open, widely. As he pounded Matt as best he could, he enjoyed everything about the encounter. Matt was moaning a little every time the sound of their flesh coming in contact echoed against his relatively bare walls.

As Matt looked up at one point, Nick was sweating. Every muscle of his body seemed to be contracting as he concentrated on the job at hand. Getting especially caught up in the contraction and flexion of his abs, Matt felt himself getting closer and closer to a successful end to round two. "Harder!" he screamed as his body began to feel so much unlike any other orgasm he'd ever had. "FUCK!" he screamed, at full volume as his ass clenched around Nick, and he shot the second, equally as powerful, orgasm from his loin.

Nick stopped for a second as Matt finished his orgasm, but when it was over, he pounded a few more times until the head of the condom was filled with everything good about that moment.

As Nick pulled out, his chest heaving, he sat down on his haunches as he released Matt's legs and then rubbed his thighs. He looked deeply into Matt's eyes as Matt looked into his. "One word?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"One word? How are you, in one word?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah?"

"Liberated," Matt told him. "You?"

"Living," Nick told him. "Matt. I haven't really lived in a long time. This has sort of reminded me that I'm still here, if that makes any sense."

"It does... more than you know," Matt smiled at him.

The two of them took a shower a few minutes later, joking as they kissed and standing there, together, until all the hot water in the house was gone. As they climbed out, continuing to smile at each other, Matt looked at him. "Is there any place around here that has crinkle cut fries?"

"Why?" Nick smiled.

"I'm hungry now," Matt winked at him.

"Sex does that to you?"

"GOOD sex does that to me," Matt said as he kissed Nick on the lips.

Being that Matt had to return to Eudora, they took two cars to a small diner not too far from Nick's house. They ate and talked for a bit before, almost reluctantly, parting ways. On the drive up, Seth was getting off work and walking home. He called Matt for details only to get, officially, that Nick needed a friend. Seth knew, though, that something had happened; he could hear it in Matt's voice. He didn't sound the same, but better. Jenny heard the same thing in Nick's, though, as they talked. Both of them, longing for better times in their best friends' lives, hoped that the feeling wasn't just temporary.

To be continued...

Posted: 07/22/11